THE hunt for long-lost Birmingham-built Spitfires isn’t over. The iconic fighter planes are rumoured to be buried in Burma and a new dig to try to find them will resume in 2014. Justine Halifax reports.

Spitfire hunter David Cundall will return to Burma to start a new dig for a lost squadron of buried Castle Bromwich-built Spitfires early next year, it can be revealed today.

The news comes a week after the aviation enthusiast revealed he had unearthed fresh evidence suggesting he had found the exact location of the buried planes.

It has emerged that Mr Cundall, whose team is now 90 per cent sure that it has found the Spitfires, is working towards starting to dig for the squadron of aircraft at the new site in January 2014.

He has dismissed claims by some that the story of the buried Burma bombers is nothing more than a “captivating legend” and that the Spitfires were never delivered to Burma.

Mr Cundall has also revealed that he has documentary evidence from an engineering officer tasked with disposing of the planes who states in a wartime report: “When is somebody going to tell me what to do with these Spitfires?”.

The latest dig will take place a year after a failed Wargaming-backed dig last January which was halted by the Burmese Government after the discovery of underground cables connected to Yangon airport at the dig site.

But the 63-year-old Lincolnshire farmer said: “Following a satisfactory civil engineering plan approval, digging will recommence in January 2014 when the ground is dry. The area of interest that we plan to investigate is just 30 odd metres from the main runway.”

The authorities in Burma want Mr Cundall to produce a plan from civil engineers to prevent any damage to the runway, or undermine it in any way, before the dig can get under way.

The farmer is now working towards this aim with a “large” as yet unidentified civil engineering company in the UK who have initially made the suggestion that piling may be the best way forward.

Recent surveys have showed “strong evidence” of large metal objects up to 40 metres long buried over seven metres deep. It is also believed that the remains of a fighter plane have been located buried elsewhere on land belonging to a Burmese farmer.

After Wargaming pulled out of the deal with Mr Cundall, he found another backer in America and has spent the best part of the last couple of months investigating the new site.

Mr Cundall believes that Lord Louis Mountbatten ordered the burial of at least 36 Castle Bromwich-built Spitfires in 1945 and that they were shipped to Burma towards the end of the Second World War.

He is optimistic that, if successfully located, they may still be in a reasonable enough condition to be restored. If that is the possible he has pledged to put one on display in Birmingham.